61 comments on “What do you do if you’re made fun of for being an idol wota?

  1. Nothing about this apply to foreigns, at least here in Mexico, I don’t know if there’s one single person who gives a shit for what others think about him, really, there are tons of worst things people is proud to like and they love to be weird because of it.
    And in the end, what’s the point in feeling bad because people make fun of us, if we criticize others who are different from us, all the time, no exceptions, no matter how good a people you say you are.
    That said, liking an Idol for a foreign looks a lot more like a lolicon, because of how Japanese girls look so young.

    • While living in Japan, I drove around blasting H!P. In the US, I drove around blasting H!P. In Germany, I drove around blasting H!P. In S.Korea, I walked around blasting H!P. I just don’t give a damn. I’m sure the other people near my car are thinking,”God, his music is loud.” as opposed to,”Ewww…idol wota.”

      I do find it funny to see wota looking all normal, then once they’re at the venue, change into their oshi shirts and such. I rolled through the stations in a Reina shirt with a Reina muffler and said screw it.

  2. People do pass judgment quite often when they know i listen to japanese idols. To those not familiar they either think the idols are sluts that use sex to sell music, or weird japanese people doing weird japanese things.

    Either way I always just say that music is something universal for anyone to enjoy. if they don’t like my music so be it, to each his own.

  3. I completely agree with 39 and 17. Everyone has their own interests, and I’m pretty sure everyone has their own “guilty pleasures” as well. Stepping all over a person’s dreams is just a dick move. Then again, I’m only 22. Don’t know how long I’ll be a H!P fan for, but I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

    There’s just something about idols that really lifts your spirits. I’m sure if any of the people making fun of wotas were to meet idols or see them perform live, they’ll change their mind completely.

  4. If you approach the topic in a normal manner, like any other hobby, it’s not so bad. They’ll raise an eyebrow at you in the beginning but if you speak calmly, they realize it’s not all that weird. If you get nervous and start stuttering, then you just make yourself look suspicious!
    In addition, take care of your appearance and responsibilities.
    Doing all these, people have nothing to make fun of you with (except maybe the lack of a love life)

  5. The two best comments.

    24: 名無し募集中。。。 2014/01/16(木) 18:46:50.62 O
    It’s mostly anime otaku who make fun of idol wota. To guys like that I just say “yeah, well good luck to you chasing after robots or girls who don’t even exist, asshole.“

    103: 名無し募集中。。。 2014/01/16(木) 20:19:34.08 0
    My wife found out.

    • That last comment doesn’t even need explanation. It just oozes a sense of DOOM…hilarious.

      That poor guy, LOL

    • I really want to try yelling #24’s comment out the window of my car outside of the San Diego Comic-Con. When you see on the news a mob of oddly dressed otakus flipping a car over and lighting it on fire, you’ll know what happened. Just look for the bumper sticker that says “Tsunku♂ Is God”.

  6. Though I’m sure it’s not as tough as being a Japanese fan, and being surrounded by people who actually know about the whole “idol culture”, it’s tough to be a Western fan too. At least here in the US, anyone who likes anything from Japan is automatically branded a weeaboo nowadays. Even Western fans of kpop artists are getting heat now for being “koreaboos”. I’ve personally been into girl groups since I was a kid, liking idols now as an adult is like the next step of that. But I guess I’m a weeaboo just because the group I like is Japanese, huh. So I haven’t really told anyone.

    Not to mention since there are a lot of cultural differences, it’s hard to just get other Westerners into them too.

    From the people who do know (family, close friends), I’m a heterosexual female so I don’t get looked at as a perv or anything, but they certainly don’t understand the appeal. Especially my photo collection hahaha. I guess the only one to truly understand a wota is another wota.

    • Being a fellow weeaboo and wota, I totally understand everything you said as it all rings true for myself as well.

      Sadly, people in the West have a tendency to look down upon cultures that differ from their own and insist upon branding fans of such things “weeaboos”, etc. The truth is that they just don’t understand it and can’t be bothered to try, which is a shame. Whatever, I say, as long as they focus on their own hobbies and leave me and my interests alone.

      IMO it’s especially tough to be an idol wota in the West because we rarely ever have anyone that we can chat and relate to in person. Thus, we have to turn to public forums and websites such as this fine one to discuss our interests. Thankfully these avenues exist as they gives us each an outlet to agree on how amazing our idols are, usually without anyone rudely butting in and being a dickhead, calling us meaningless names and ignorantly bashing our hobby.

      Goddamn, I’m going to stop typing here before this becomes a marriage proposal to Henkka for setting up this site LOL

      I’m very thankful, though. I am definitely one of those people who don’t have the luxury of knowing any other H!P, let alone idol, fans that I can chat with offline, in person. Anytime I meet someone offline that even just RECOGNIZES an idol group’s name, I get incredibly excited. Then my inner wota emerges and tends to weird them out LOL

      • As a fellow hetorossexual western girl wota, I understand you completely.
        My family and some few old friends know that I like Japanese music, but judging by their reactions and opinions, I’ve never even come close to telling them that I like idols, and don’t intend to. I understand why it would be strange at first, but when people don’t even try to know more about it and just go on judging me and my interests it really bugs me. So, I prefer to keep my fandom a secret and continue to live peacefully, although I’m lonely.

        • Same! I get the same reactions (“You sure get a lot of packages from overseas, huh” and the like) and though most of my family just thinks of it as pop music, I don’t think they really understand the idea of “idols” haha. My sister likes kpop groups so we talk a lot about idols in general, but we don’t like the same groups so it’s still kind of lonely. Other than her it’s only my boyfriend who knows I’m a wota. He likes anime so I knew he’d understand it… and it still took me a year and a half to let him see my collection haha.

      • I agree with all this! Especially the bit about not knowing any other fans in person. The Western idol fan community is already pretty small compared to the Japanese fan community, and it doesn’t help that we’re all spread out throughout the Western world. Forums and the like definitely help, to connect with other fans and blab about idols all day, but my heart aches a little bit every time I see a post from a Japanese wota saying something like “I met up with some fellow wotas today” hahaha.

        I once met a girl at a con who mentioned she liked Takarazuka. Without thinking I blurted out “Oh Aichan likes them too!” The look of sheer shock on her face was something I’ll treasure forever haha. To date, she’s the only fellow H!P wota I’ve met in person…

      • You know, Henkka is a intelligent, capable and humorous guy….ain’t wrong for a heterosexual girl to want to make a marriage proposal to him ;) xD

  7. Currently 34 – been an H!P fan for over a decade, and my love for them is still strong. H!P is like the soundtrack to my life. LOL

    • I’m in the “over a decade” club as well, and I’m proud of it. Discovering idols, H!P, and Japanese pop music definitely changed my life for the better as it brings an unprecedented level of positivity and energy to what would normally be a boring life.

      Nothing cheers me up faster or better than an H!P song, no matter which one it is ^_^

  8. Every of my friends + My parents + My girl friend know that I like H!P, no one judge me and I have no problem about being know as wota.

    I’m not sure that, at what level of additive of a person to idol, to be consider a wota. I’m probably not a wota after all.

    • Even just having an interest in idols can make a person be considered a “wota”, although the definition is pretty vague and there are undoubtedly many different levels of “obsession” when it comes to wotas.

      Call yourself a wota, or not, it doesn’t really matter as long as you earnestly enjoy H!P and idols in general. The term “wota” is just a means of self-identification anyways.

  9. I wish my dad made fun of me.
    When my Reina PB came in the mail, he just kind of smiled and nodded creepily at it.
    “Pretty girl, son. Good taste”

    • Best dad ever.

      My own father saw one of my cellphone wallpapers of Kikkawa Yuu and all I got was an awkward, questioning look. Thankfully he didn’t ask me anything about it since he doesn’t know anything about Japanese pop idols and certainly doesn’t know that I’m a wota. He knows I enjoy Japanese music but that’s pretty much the extent of it. I feel like we’d grow further apart if he ever found out about my obsession with idols, LOL

      • My dad doesn’t know anything about pop idols either. He just thinks the photo and books I have are “Some singer girl”/ XD

  10. when I was about 16, I was really embarrassed to tell anybody. Now that I’m 25, I’m a lot more confident about myself. I don’t want to be friends with people who don’t tolerate my fandom. I’m pretty open about it as well…. It’s not something to be ashamed about. .I do get weird looks when I tell new friends about it but they get over it quiet fast.

    H!P is a big part of my life… and people who like me habe to accept/tolerate it.

  11. Even if I told someone about H!P they wouldn’t even know or care what I was referring to.. Being a fan overseas has advantages like that. Heck, I don’t think anyone would understand what an “idol” would be in the Western world since there’s no real good measure of comparison. Or is there?

    • “Idols” over here are anything but actual idols. The Western definition is pretty much limited to “anyone who can sing/perform well”, without the “someone worth looking up to or revered as such” part that is the core of the word “idol”.

      Whenever the media over here calls someone an “idol”, I just grimace and shake my head angrily. The difference in standards between East and West are way too far apart.

  12. Oh, Henkka XD Such a great thread! I would love to quote my favorite ones, but there’s so many I can’t :-D

    I think everything is about the people you’re telling about your adoration for idols. I told some of my friends and acquaintances. Some of them were like “what a shit, I would never listen to such a shit”. Some of them were like “…haha, okay”.

    I used to think that it’s too odd to tell someone about it, but recently I confessed it to someone being all like ‘yea, I like them…I know this is weird’, and she was like “Weird? I’d say it is original.”

    Well.

  13. I got detention for writing “Ikuta is the number one idol in the world” at the back wall of our school

  14. I refuse to feel any embassment about it because I’m 100% convinced that the reasons for being “into it” are just as good as anyone ever had for being “into” anything. Especially if we’re talkin’ H!P.

    • Damn straight. Other people’s opinions never matter because there’s, without a doubt, something that they themselves are interested in to the point of obsession.

      Having passion for a hobby is everyone’s right and shows an admirable level of dedication. People who refuse to faithfully devote themselves to their interests must lead shallow, empty, boring lives.

      • “there’s, without a doubt, something that they themselves are interested in to the point of obsession.”

        Such as this thread for example. :)

  15. Fun thread!
    I’m a secret momusu fan. I told about my love for idols to very few people that i knew would be ok with it ( familiar with j culture/music).
    Only my boyfriend really knows about it and i think i kind of dragged him into being a casual fan haha :P
    I don’t feel like explaining to people why an heterosexual 22yo girl is so passionate about a group of teenage girls…also because i have absolutely no idea myself.

    • Possibly because you look up to them? That’s one of the core concepts of Japanese idols: being someone the fans can admire and look up to.

      And there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone has role models and people they admire greatly.

      IMO all idol groups could use more female fans. I feel for the girls that have to endure the task of performing for a crowd comprised mostly of sweaty, creepy, middle-aged wotas LOL

  16. I know for a fact that I’ll still be a hardcore wota when I turn 30…because I’m nearly there, LOL

    Just a few more years…sigh. Thanks for making me realize how old I’m becoming Henkka ;P

    Being a H!P wota, no, being an idol wota in general, is something that transcends age. I feel like I’ll continue being a wota for as long as I live, no matter how old I get.

    The number of graduations and auditions that I’ve already seen sometimes gets to me, since they’re always really sad events. It hurts to see some of my favorite idols “retire” from the spotlight, but I always know that another amazing idol will take her place.

    Speaking of graduations and my age approaching 30:
    In the next few years, as I approach that “milestone” I fully expect to see Michishige graduate (god, that’ll be so sad) and then the 12th gen auditions adding a few more girls (I hope it’s more than 1 this time). Possibly even the 13th gen will come around my 30th birthday, but I don’t really want to think that far ahead LOL

    Beauty is ephemeral, and idols definitely have expiration dates, sadly. I just want to enjoy these idols while I still can.

    • Since you’re fast approaching the magical 30, shouldn’t you start considering about marriage?? And what better man to marry than Henkka?!?! Too bad I can never consider marrying Henkka cos I’m a heterosexual male myself :P

  17. actually i got made fun of for liking rock music. ;_; damn you, hip-hop and top 40 music!!!

    and when i first discovered MM, they were mostly the same age group as me, and i wasn’t that into them so nobody really knew. they just thought of me as this weird guy in general.

  18. I was never made fun of.
    They did once but they stopped when one of the guys got a really bad injury.

  19. There’s not many in my life who knows I am a wota, but most know that I listen to East asian music which is already too wierd for some, so they won’t ask further… But I have a friend who is a Johnnys fan and I really thought she’d understand but she said “that’s strange”. It wasn’t until after I showed her a live video she understood that H!P is pretty much like Johnny’s, just female.

    But it’s the fact that I’m a girl who likes female groups that seem to surprise people the most.

  20. I’ve told all of one person of my H!P fandom in real life, mostly so there’d be context for the related web things I spend my time on. Though surely this shelf filling up with old CDs and DVDs bought on eBay can’t escape notice forever.

  21. As for the “age 30” thing, I can pinpoint the time I got sucked into all this Tsunku-based idol stuff by the datestamp on a video I saved from YouTube. My age at the time: 30 years and 4 days. Maybe it was just my dirty old man switch being flipped.

  22. I am so glad my close friends didn’t care when I told them. I even converted some of them. It’s really nice to have friends you can talk to about idols, it brings you one step farther away from the closet fan. Now, I really don’t mind wearing my idol shirts and such in public. Meeting with old high school classmates… Thats a different thing.

  23. I live in Mexico, and even when most of the people would just go on with a ” cool, whatever ” there is a good amount of people who would think “WTF, they are way to young”, specially when there are girls my age (19) who look several years older than a HP member of the same age. Still, as soon as I tell them they are around my age, they go ” well fine, ok “. Aside from that, no one makes fun of me for liking some group.

  24. I feel less worried about letting slip that I like Berryz, Buono or °C-ute now that they are all grown up, which is really nice. Still, I’m not one to flaunt my hobbies, so it’s unlikely I’ll mention anything idol related in conversation anyway. It’s too much of a bother, with all the missing context I’d have to provide for things to make sense beyond a level of “they’re some Japanese girl group” to the people around me.

  25. I ran into my first HP! wota ever a few months ago at a yogurt shop. The shop used points on a card that they called Smileage so I said something to the cashier. She knew who I was talking about and gave me her friend’s phone number who is an even bigger fan. I talked with this girl through text for a bit before meeting her. I was excited because I’ve been a fan since 2005 and was happy to share with someone besides my (now) husband. In the end, it was just TOO much. Maybe it was an age and maturity difference (I’m almost 27 and she is turning 20) but I couldn’t stand talking to another fan. It felt so weird and she was into it a different way than I was. She liked fandubbing and dancing and putting that stuff on youtube and to me that kind of thing is humiliating. She was ready to dance and put on a show for me at the mall and I felt horribly embarrassed. It’s so odd.. but she made me embarrassed to be an HP! fan so I have never talked to her again but she never made an effort to contact me again either so perhaps she felt odd as well.

    • I’m a fandubber and do dance covers sometimes as well, but I’m pretty sure I’m not that kind of fan. I think I know what you mean. It’s like the regular young teenage girl foreign fan.. Not a wota tbh because they don’t know a thing about that. They know nothing about the girls actually, just love the songs and usually choose their favourite by looks and popularity. They go crazy too much… And are everytime like “Omg ***-chan kawaii!”.. I’ve made this mistake as well. I saw someone at an animecon wearing a costume which looked so much like a H!P costume and finally contacted her. When I met her for the first time.. Boy. That was not what I expected. She was too much of a fangirl going all “kawaiiiii” and I don’t like that as well. I’ve said “oh she looks cute” often of course, but I’m not that kind of fan… I have come to the point were I really believe I’m a wota. I somehow regret contacting that fan because she’s not the kind of fan I thought she would be. Too bad.

      I just wanted to say that not every teenaged foreign girl who fandubs and dances is like that ;) I’m 17 now, a true fan for already 3 to 4 years, and with ageing I have become more aware of the fandom and I have matured of course. The fandubbing I do is just for fun and dancing as well, Japanese wota’s like watching them if they’re good so that’s what I’m doing it for as well.

  26. It makes me feel so sad to see that wota get scolded at so much actually…
    I understand why but it’s so sad. I guess it’s not a possitive thing if it’s known.

    #92 by the way, I kind of understand it.
    I mean, I always LOVED singing and somehow I fell in love with the H!P songs and girls.
    I’m pretty sure I long to be an idol without even knowing it, that’s why H!P has so many foreign wota’s being teenage girls. We’re admiring them, looking up to them. It doens’t matter which age you have or which sex you have, wota’s are wota’s. I’ve may be more like a regular fan in the beginning like not knowing much about them.. But I think I’ve became a real wota now. I buy merch, try to watch random talk videos and more stuff like that. I am really proud of being a wota!

  27. I always get these:

    “They can’t sing, I can’t take that serious OMG horrible, horrible”
    “Idols are sluts”
    “Male wota are pedos”
    “You are a weeb”
    “Aren’t you a bit old for girl groups?” (I’m 22 btw)
    “Such a showoff crap”
    “Why would you look up to somebody, I don’t understand”

    I’m sure some would think I’m a lesbian as well. :P

  28. Oh and I almost forgot, the “only KPOP” extreme biased people

    “They look fat compared to K-Idol X” (Cuz they don’t get starved by Up-Front unlike way too many K-Idols)

    “They look ugly compared to K-Idol X” (cuz they are mostly natural and not full of PS, duh?)

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